How Your Hands and Nails Change in Your 20s, 30s, and 40s

When we think about looking older, usually face wrinkles and grey hairs come to mind. But the area that we often forget about—our hands and nails—transforms the most with time. “Your hands give away your age more than your face because of the small amount of subcutaneous fat in the hands, and the constant exposure to sun, extreme hot and cold, water from daily washing, and chemicals,” explains New York dermatologist Patricia Ceballos, M.D., of Schweiger Dermatology Group.

We’ve laid out the changes you can expect down the line—and what you can do if they bother you. Because we’ve got your back. Er, hands.

In Your 20s

“You’re laying the foundation for your skin’s future, so the way you care for your hands is super important right now,” says Donna Perillo, founder of New York City’s Sweet Lily Natural Nail Spa. She says exfoliation with a scrub, along with moisturizing with your favorite hand cream, is enough for your hands and nails to look their most spectacular at this lucky age. Ceballos adds that that sun exposure during your twenties can manifest as liver spots in older age.

Solution: “Regular sunscreen use in our twenties is the sine qua non (absolute necessity) for unblemished skin in our 40s and beyond!” says Ceballos. And the tops of your hands are one of the most common places people forget to apply sunscreen. Look for a hand lotion that has sun protection in it to do double-duty. (We also like this Coconut Sunscreen Stick from the Women's Health Boutique!)

In Your 30s

Many more women are waiting until their thirties to have children, according to the CDC, and Perillo says that pregnancy plays a huge factor in skin elasticity as hormones fluctuate and joints swell. Meanwhile, the matrix of the nail can undergo thinning due to natural aging, which can cause a common nail condition known as onychorrhexis, also known as “brittle nail syndrome.” Nails often split at the ends and have long ridges.

Solution: Using richer hand creams with ingredients like shea and cocoa butter, as well as a cuticle cream to condition nails, will help restore hydration levels, says Perillo. Ridges can be remedied by lighting filing and buffing the nail surface, then massaging nails regularly with naturally emollient oils. “Olive oil is an excellent choice,” recommends Ceballos.

Watch a hot doc explain why your feet are peeling:

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In Your 40s

You may notice that traumatic grooming practices like gel or acrylic manicures that didn’t bother you in your twenties may now cause your nails to break and hurt. This is because your nail plate adheres less strongly to the nail bed with age, says Ceballos. If you’ve had a lot of unprotected sun exposure over your lifetime, this is the time when freckles and age spots tend to start popping up, and you may notice more veins as the collagen on the back of your hands starts to thin.

Solution: Opt for more natural products and services that don’t contain harsh chemicals, cut the cuticle, or scrape the nail bed, says Ceballos. She adds that consistent use of topical retinoids and alpha hydroxy acids can improve the look of age spots, or fractional laser resurfacing in the dermatologist’s office can even blast them away.

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